Hickman- CBCI

Unit Title- Succeeding in the 21st Century: What does it mean to earn a degree?

Conceptual Lens- Options

Unit Strands- Exposure, Redefining, Narrowing Down

Unit Web- This unit, focusing on degrees and the 21st century employee, will fall as an introduction unit to a year long unit which covers many other topics such as; financial aid and the FAFSA, how to apply to college, how to handle unexpected setbacks, choosing a degree and the college orientation process.

Generalizations-

• There are many options when considering higher education
• Changing technology, historical events and values shape the type of employee employers are looking for
• Government decisions have an impact on higher education

Guided Questions-

• How many degrees does Miami offer? (F)
• Will a focus on technical programs increase over time? (D)
• How do historical events shape the needs of a company? (C)
• How many colleges are within an hour from where we live? (F)
• Is it worth it to earn a degree that may not result in a job in that specific field? (D)
• What are the ways in which government decisions have impacted higher education? (C)

Critical content-

• The differences between Certificates, Associate’s Degrees, Bachelor’s Degrees, Master’s Degrees, and Doctoral Degrees
• Requirements for the Miami Plan or foundation courses
• Degrees offered through Miami

Identify critical skills-

• Use decision-making skills to determine which option is best for yourself
• Formulate questions and search for answers on college and business websites

Assessment-

What- Investigate degrees and higher education options and the ways in which these routes move into todays current job market.

Why- In order to determine what the best option is for each individual and understand that changing technology, historical events and values shape the type of employee employers are looking for.

How (Engaging Scenario)- Playing the Major Decisions Game

Learning Experiences-

Succeeding in the 21st Century: What does it mean to earn a degree?

9th-12th grade students

Lesson 1: Types of Higher Education

• Day 1
• (5 minutes) Unit overview
• (5 minutes) pose the questions, Why do we go to school? Why do we get jobs? Discuss survival of society. Prepare students to be critical when it comes to thinking about school and jobs so not to be easily manipulated.
• (10 minutes) First part of YOUniversity presentation- introducing students to education options, admission requirements, characteristics of each option ex cost etc.
• (sample)
• 
  • (10 minutes) Use laptops to look up programs offered through; Butler Tech, Sinclair, Miami Regionals and Miami Oxford.
  • http://www.butlertech.org/AdultPrograms.aspx, http://www.butlertech.org/TeenPrograms.aspx, http://www.sinclair.edu/academics/all-programs/, https://miamioh.edu/regionals/academics/majors-minors/majors-by-alpha-regional.html, http://miamioh.edu/academics/majors-minors/majors-by-alpha.html
    • Pay attention to terms such as certificate, associate’s degree, bachelor’s degree, master’s degree, doctorate degree, major, co-major, minor and pre-professional.
  • (10 minutes) Second part of YOUniversity presentation- introducing students to programs, differences etc.
  • (10 minutes) Now that we are aware of the types of higher education options we have a differences in programs I would pose the question, “what if Ohio approves that all students can get a free associate’s degree?” Partner discussion positives and negatives.Lesson 2: Degrees and Careers

• Day 2
  • (20 minutes) Major Decision Game (already created)- I will ask students a series of 10 would you rather questions. Each questions has six options. Depending on the option they choose, students will go to the side of the room with the correlating color on the wall. Each question explores the student’s personality to determine majors that they may be interested in. (10 minutes reading the questions and moving in the room, 10 minutes sitting down and exploring the results, which majors fit each color)
  • (sample)
  • 
    • (2 minutes) Discuss how majors change based on our changing culture
    • (3 minutes) Discuss reasons why these changes happened?
    • (5 minutes) Students will expand their creative thinking by spending 5 minutes brainstorming and coming up with at least one brand new degree program that does not exist and two reasons why this innovative degree would be valuable? What skills would you gain, where would you work etc. Have students write the name of their degree and a quick description on a colored piece of paper. 
    • (5 minutes) Students will volunteer to share the degree they have created and why
    • (5 minutes) After sharing their ideas, students will spend 5 minutes on their laptop searching the internet to see if their program actually exists anywhere. Students will be encouraged to discuss their findings as they come about.
    • (10 minutes) Have students share what they have found. Discuss what the benefits could be for students who take these courses compared to students who don’t? Guide students to understanding what it means to be a well rounded student. These students have an understanding of cultures, art, languages, history etc.
    • (5 minutes) Read article about steel industry changing

http://www.ohiosteel.org/ohio-steel-industry/history/

https://www.forbes.com/sites/martinzwilling/2013/12/25/a-new-era-for-entrepreneurs-and-startups-has-begun/#63e6455c4bd1

• • • (5 minutes) Read article about current start up companies

Day 3

• (3 minutes) Introduction: Have the creative degrees and descriptions hanging in the room. Review what was talked about the day before regarding degree programs, changing companies and cultures and their innovative degrees
• (5 minutes) Students will spend 5 minutes writing down as many reasons why some students are “good at school”?
• (2 minutes) Share ideas
• (30 minutes) Split students into groups of four. Have each group look at different college websites to find out what their liberal education foundation requirements are. Give each student group instructions on how to find the course list and course descriptions. Have them jot down a few of the most interesting foundation courses students may take and what they learn in those courses.

• • • • • http://bulletin.miamioh.edu/liberal-education/foundation-courses/

• Day 4

• (3 minutes) Intro, remind students what was talked about the previous two days
• (30 minutes) have students split into same four groups. Have each group explore a different type of career on a job search engine. Write down job title, degree requirement and the types of tasks each job requires.

• • • • https://www.monster.com/, http://www.careerbuilder.com/, https://www.indeed.com/
        • (5 minutes) have each group share what they found
        • (5 minutes) discuss together the importance of major choice, foundational knowledge (foundation courses) Pose the question, “how else could a person gain the qualities necessary to be successful in today’s workforce?” ex- being involved in an organization, playing sports, having a job young, etc.
        • (2 minutes) Wrap up

Day 5

• Flexible time to use if lessons run over
• Students will spend the remainder of class working on their Next-Steps Path
• (sample) Actual Next-Steps Path would include topics such as;
  • Determine money available
    • visit FAFSA.gov, talked to family about whether or not there will be help from them for your higher education, research scholarship websites, research tuition costs
  • Look into the courses you have taken and grades you will have earned by the end of high school
  • Research admission requirements for different options
  • Research application deadlines
  • Look up career assessment tests in order to choose a major/career path
  • Look up additional careers on websites and what their requirements are
• (Next-Steps Path will also include shortcuts or alternate routes indicating that many steps do not need to be completed in any particular order.
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